The 64 roads that will not be widened: how Shanghai fixed the width of its old streets, 2002–2023

The short answer. In 2007 Shanghai’s planners sorted the old streets inside the city’s historic areas into four classes. For the first class, 64 roads in the 2008 count, the rule is short: the width between the planned building lines, the radius of the corners and the layout of carriageway and pavements must stay as they are, or go back to what they were, and “may not be widened or narrowed”. The press and, later, the planners themselves called them the 64 roads that will “never be widened” (永不拓宽). More than half are in the former French Concession; the rest are on the Bund and at People’s Square, along West Nanjing Road, Yuyuan Road, Xinhua Road and Hongqiao Road, and in Hongkou around Shanyin Road and Tilanqiao. This part of the topic explains where the rule came from, what it forbids beyond width, how well it has held, and which roads they are.

Why streets, and not just buildings?

The first protections, as the first part of this topic describes, were for single buildings: the 1989 list and the 1991 measures. The 2002 regulation widened the unit to whole areas and lowered the age limit from 1949 to thirty years in use. Within each historic area, every building was put in one of five classes, from “protected” down to “to be demolished”.

That left a gap. A street is not a building. You can keep every protected house on a street and still lose the street, if the road is widened and the building line moves back. A planned “red line”, the legal edge of the road reserve, can run through a listed building itself, waiting for redevelopment to make it real; in 2016, as described below, the planners found 146 roads where that was the case.

The regulation’s current text defines what a heritage road is: a road or stretch of road with a concentration of historic buildings, fairly consistent heights and styles, and a distinctive alignment, width, frontage, scale and sense of space. It also forbids changing a heritage road’s alignment, route, width or cross-section without going through the full legal procedure for amending the plans. The 2007 Opinions turned that principle into rules a district planning office could apply.

How did the list come about?

The sequence, as the official record gives it:

• 2003. Twelve historic areas in the central city, 27 square kilometres, about a third of the old urban area.
• 2004. At a press conference in September the city said it had designated those twelve areas and 93 streets as “heritage streets”.
• 2005. Thirty-two more historic areas in the suburbs and Pudong, about 14 square kilometres.
• 21 August 2007. The Municipal Urban Planning Administration signs its Opinions on the planning management of heritage-protection roads.
• 17 September 2007. The city government forwards them to every district and department as circular no. 30 of 2007, in force from that day.
• 22 August 2008. Mao Jialiang, director of the Planning Bureau, gives the numbers: 144 roads and lanes listed as heritage-protection roads, “of which 64 are roads that will never be widened”.

The twelve central areas are the Bund, People’s Square, the Old City, Hengshan Road–Fuxing Road, West Nanjing Road, Yuyuan Road, Xinhua Road, Hongqiao Road, Shanyin Road, Jiangwan, Longhua and Tilanqiao.

The Opinions do not contain the phrase “never widened”. Their wording is “not to be widened or narrowed”, applied to class one. “Never widened” is the label the Planning Bureau director used in 2008 and the one that stuck. As late as October 2023 the city’s planning exhibition centre showed “the pattern of Shanghai’s 64 never-widened heritage-protection roads”.

What does “class one” actually forbid?

Width is the headline, but the Opinions control the whole street, defined as the road plus “the first row of buildings and the greenery on both sides”.

Nothing until there is a plan. Every heritage road must have its own protection plan. Until it does, no building, repair or improvement work of any kind is allowed on a class-one road; on classes two to four, nothing on a whole block-length at once. The district planning office draws the plan up and the city Planning Bureau must approve or answer within 50 working days, after consulting the other departments and the expert committee on historic buildings.

What the plan must fix. The cross-section and paving; the trees and planting; the bulk, height, setback, form and colour of the first row of buildings on both sides; sculptures, advertising and shop signs; and street furniture, utility boxes and boundary walls.

The building line. New or rebuilt buildings must stand tight against the road’s control line, so a street keeps a continuous edge rather than a row of forecourts. Their basements may not reach under the road.

Colour. The main colour of the street’s historic buildings is the base colour for everything else on it.

Trees. Existing green space may not be reduced, old and notable trees are protected by law, and characteristic street trees must be kept. Window-box, terrace and wall planting is encouraged instead.

Walls and shops. The boundary walls of protected buildings must keep or regain their original character, and in heritage-road areas walls may not be broken through to open shops (破墙开店).

Signs and paving. Outdoor advertising is strictly controlled; shop signs must suit the street; paving should reflect the area’s history.

For classes two to four the width rule is softer. The red line may be adjusted to take account of historic buildings, traffic, street trees and greenery, so these streets can change, but only around what is worth keeping.

Has the rule held?

Mostly, and the evidence comes from the planners themselves.

In April 2016 Hou Binchao, deputy head of the townscape division of the Planning and Land Resources Bureau, described a review prompted by the fifth batch of outstanding historic buildings, 426 of them. On 133 roads in the central city, 45 in Huangpu District alone, and 13 more in Pudong and the suburbs, a planned road red line ran into a protected building. The bureau’s answer was not to widen through them: future widening would “bend a little, go round a little” (弯一弯、绕一绕) to pass historic buildings. The reporter’s summary of the logic: however bad the traffic, it clears eventually; a destroyed protected building cannot be brought back.

The same report gave the test case for the class-one roads. Yuqing Road, Xingguo Road and Sinan Road, three of the 64, were still at their historic width of 15.2 metres, nine years after the Opinions.

There is one qualification. A 2018 Jiefang Daily report on the 64 noted that not every class-one road is protected along its whole length; on some, only certain stretches are kept from widening. The list of the 64 bears this out: several entries give a protected section that is shorter than the road. Huashan Road, for example, is protected only from Changshu Road to Xingguo Road.

How many heritage roads are there now?

More than 144, and the 64 have stayed 64. The figures in the record:

Year	Heritage streets or roads	Source
2004	93 “heritage streets”	city press conference
2008	144 roads and lanes, 64 class one	Planning Bureau director
2015	144 roads, more than 100 km long in total	Wenhui Bao, quoting the protection office
2016	401 roads and lanes, 64 class one	Wenhui Bao, quoting the Planning and Land Resources Bureau
2023	“64 never-widened roads” on display	city planning exhibition

The 2016 report does not explain the jump from 144 to 401. It coincides with the extension of protection beyond the original historic areas, to scattered “heritage blocks” in the central districts, of which there were 119 by 2016. We have not found an official current total for all heritage roads.

What the 64 have in common

In 2018 the Shanghai Surveying and Mapping Institute sorted the 64 into three groups for a series of public map walks, and the grouping is a good way to understand them.

“Classic grid” (15 roads), on the Bund and around People’s Square. Compact, straight and at right angles, and, as engineer Ye Cao noted, almost all named after Chinese places; several are among the oldest roads in the city. These are the streets of the second facade, laid out between 1854 and 1865 and named by a council resolution of 1865.

“Behind the bustle” (14 roads), on the edges of commercial districts, with many lane houses: in the Hongqiao Road, West Nanjing Road, Shanyin Road, Tilanqiao, Xinhua Road and Yuyuan Road areas. Ye said all 14 can be traced on the 1932 map of Shanghai. Most once had foreign names, changed around 1943. Only three never changed their names: Hongqiao Road (built 1901), Yuyuan Road (1911) and Zhoushan Road (about 1910).

“Under the plane trees” (35 roads), in and around the Hengshan Road–Fuxing Road area: villas and apartment blocks under street trees; the French council planted plane trees along Route Paul Brunat, today’s Middle Huaihai Road, as it paved it in sections between 1902 and 1913.

The Settlements Gazetteer dates many of them. In 1901 the International Settlement’s council finished Hungjao (Hongqiao) Road and two other roads outside its western boundary, 20.92 kilometres in all. In 1902 the French council built Route Doumer (Donghu Road) and Route Pichon (Fenyang Road). In 1907 it built Route Ferguson (Wukang Road) and Route Ratard (Julu Road), both outside the concession’s boundary at the time. Route Ghisi (Yueyang Road) followed in 1912; Route Lafayette (Middle Fuxing Road), Rue Massenet (Sinan Road), Rue Corneille and Rue Molière (Xiangshan Road) in 1914; and Avenue Pétain (Hengshan Road) in 1922. The Settlement’s council built Avenue Amherst (Xinhua Road) outside its own boundary in 1925.

What stands on them

The Famous Buildings Gazetteer gives dates for the houses that make several of these roads worth walking.

Wukang Road, the old Route Ferguson. At its southern end, where it meets Middle Huaihai Road, the Normandie Apartments were built in 1924 by the property company of the International Savings Society, 30 metres high on a triangular site; they were renamed Wukang Mansion in 1953. Further up, No. 113, Ba Jin’s home, dates from 1923 and was listed in 1999; Huang Xing’s house at No. 393 was built between 1912 and 1915.

Yongfu Road. No. 151, by the Chinese architect Yang Zenghua, was begun in 1941 and finished in 1942.

Hengshan Road, the old Avenue Pétain. The Picardie Apartments at No. 534, completed in 1934, were the tallest building in western Shanghai until the 1980s.

Xiangshan Road and Gaolan Road, two short streets beside Fuxing Park. Sun Yat-sen lived in the house on Xiangshan Road from July 1918 to December 1924; Zhang Xueliang’s house at 1 Gaolan Road is from the mid-1930s.

Middle Huaihai Road, the old Avenue Joffre. Soong Ching-ling’s house at No. 1843 was built in 1920; she moved in in March 1948.

Donghu Road, the old Route Doumer. Du Yuesheng’s house at No. 70 dates from 1934.

Xinhua Road, the old Avenue Amherst, built in 1925. The houses in lanes 211 and 329 are known as the “foreign lanes”.

All 64, by area

The Paper’s list of 2021 gives every road with its protected section. We have grouped them by the historic area they belong to, numbered in the order used by the map above. Former names in Western languages are given where the Settlements Gazetteer’s table confirms them.

Hengshan Road–Fuxing Road (the former French Concession)

1. Hengshan Road (衡山路): Tianping Rd to Taojiang Rd; formerly Avenue Pétain.
2. Middle Huaihai Road (淮海中路): Middle Urumqi Rd to South Chongqing Rd; formerly Avenue Joffre.
3. Middle and West Fuxing Road (复兴中路-复兴西路): Huashan Rd to South Chongqing Rd; formerly Route Lafayette; Route Gustave de Boissezon.
4. Yuqing Road (余庆路): Middle Huaihai Rd to Hengshan Rd.
5. Xingguo Road (兴国路): Huashan Rd to Middle Huaihai Rd; formerly Route Paul Legendre.
6. Huashan Road (华山路): Changshu Rd to Xingguo Rd; formerly Avenue Haig.
7. Julu Road (巨鹿路): Changshu Rd to South Shaanxi Rd; formerly Route Ratard.
8. Yongjia Road (永嘉路): Hengshan Rd to South Shaanxi Rd; formerly Route H. de Sieyès.
9. Hunan Road (湖南路): Huashan Rd to Middle Huaihai Rd.
10. Wukang Road (武康路): Huashan Rd to Middle Huaihai Rd; formerly Route Ferguson.
11. Tai’an Road (泰安路): Huashan Rd to Wukang Rd.
12. Huating Road (华亭路): Changle Rd to Middle Huaihai Rd.
13. Changle Road (长乐路): Changshu Rd to South Shaanxi Rd; formerly Rue Bourgeat.
14. Yongfu Road (永福路): Wuyuan Rd to Hunan Rd.
15. Yanqing Road (延庆路): Changshu Rd to Donghu Rd.
16. Yueyang Road (岳阳路): Fenyang Rd to Zhaojiabang Rd; formerly Route Ghisi.
17. Fumin Road (富民路): Donghu Rd to Julu Rd; formerly Route Amiral Courbet.
18. Taiyuan Road (太原路): Fenyang Rd to West Jianguo Rd; formerly Route René Delastre.
19. Sinan Road (思南路): Middle Huaihai Rd to Middle Jianguo Rd; formerly Rue Massenet.
20. Kangping Road (康平路): Huashan Rd to Gao’an Rd.
21. Xiangshan Road (香山路): Ruijin No. 2 Rd to Sinan Rd; formerly Rue Molière.
22. Gaolan Road (皋兰路): Ruijin No. 2 Rd to Sinan Rd.
23. Gaoyou Road (高邮路): West Fuxing Rd to Hunan Rd.
24. Gao’an Road (高安路): Middle Huaihai Rd to West Jianguo Rd.
25. South Urumqi Road (乌鲁木齐南路): Middle Huaihai Rd to West Jianguo Rd; formerly Route L. Dufour.
26. Dongping Road (东平路): South Urumqi Rd to Yueyang Rd; formerly Route Francis Garnier.
27. Taojiang Road (桃江路): South Urumqi Rd to Yueyang Rd; formerly Route Henri Rivière.
28. Fenyang Road (汾阳路): Middle Huaihai Rd to Yueyang Rd; formerly Route Pichon.
29. Donghu Road (东湖路): Changle Rd to Middle Huaihai Rd; formerly Route Doumer.
30. Yandang Road (雁荡路): Middle Huaihai Rd to Nanchang Rd; formerly Route Voyron.
31. Xinle Road (新乐路): Fumin Rd to South Shaanxi Rd.
32. Guangyuan Road (广元路): Huashan Rd to Hengshan Rd; formerly Route Picard Destelan.
33. Wanping Road (宛平路): Middle Huaihai Rd to Hengshan Rd; formerly Route Winling.
34. West Jianguo Road (建国西路): Hengshan Rd to Yueyang Rd; formerly Route Joseph Frelupt.
35. Wuyuan Road (五原路): Wukang Rd to Changshu Rd.
36. Anting Road (安亭路): West Jianguo Rd to Yongjia Rd.

Yuyuan Road

37. Yuyuan Road (愚园路): Dingxi Rd to North Urumqi Rd.
38. Wuyi Road (武夷路): Dingxi Rd to West Yan’an Rd; formerly Tunsin Road.

West Nanjing Road

39. West Beijing Road (北京西路): Jiaozhou Rd to Jiangning Rd; formerly Avenue Road.
40. North Maoming Road (茂名北路): West Nanjing Rd to Weihai Rd.
41. North Shaanxi Road (陕西北路): Xinzha Rd to Nanyang Rd; West Nanjing Rd to Weihai Rd; formerly Seymour Road.

Shanyin Road (Hongkou)

42. Liyang Road (溧阳路): North Sichuan Rd to Bao’an Rd; formerly Dixwell Road.
43. Shanyin Road and Xiangde Road (山阴路-祥德路): North Sichuan Rd to Ouyang Rd; formerly Scott Road.
44. Tian’ai Road (甜爱路): Tian’ai Apartments to North Sichuan Rd.

People’s Square

45. East and West Nanjing Road (南京东路-南京西路): listed as Huangpi Rd N to Zhejiang Rd M; formerly Bubbling Well Road.

The Bund

46. East Beijing Road (北京东路): Middle Henan Rd to the Bund; formerly Consulate Road.
47. East Nanjing Road (南京东路): Middle Jiangxi Rd to the Bund; formerly Park Lane; To Maloo.
48. Jiujiang Road (九江路): Middle Henan Rd to the Bund; formerly Rope Walk Road.
49. Hankou Road (汉口路): Middle Henan Rd to the Bund; formerly Customs House Road.
50. Fuzhou Road (福州路): Middle Henan Rd to the Bund; formerly Mission Road; Foochow Road.
51. Guangdong Road (广东路): Middle Jiangxi Rd to the Bund.
52. North and Middle Sichuan Road (四川北路-四川中路): Tiantong Rd to East Yan’an Rd; formerly North Szechuen Road; Kiangsu Road.
53. Middle Jiangxi Road (江西中路): South Suzhou Rd to Guangdong Rd; formerly Kiangse Road; Church Street.
54. North Suzhou Road and Huangpu Road (北苏州路-黄浦路): North Henan Rd to Wuchang Rd.
55. Yuanmingyuan Road (圆明园路): South Suzhou Rd to Dianchi Rd; formerly Yuen Ming Yuen Road.
56. Huqiu Road and Zhapu Road (虎丘路-乍浦路): North Suzhou Rd to East Beijing Rd; formerly Museum Road (Upper Yuen Ming Yuen Road).
57. Hong Kong Road (香港路): Middle Jiangxi Rd to Yuanmingyuan Rd.
58. Daming Road and the Bund (Zhongshan East-1 Road) (大名路-中山东一路): Wuchang Rd to East Yan’an Rd; formerly Broadway Road; The Bund.
59. Dianchi Road (滇池路): Middle Sichuan Rd to the Bund.

Hongqiao Road

60. Hongqiao Road (虹桥路): Huanxi Ave to Gubei Rd; formerly Hungjao Road.

Xinhua Road

61. Xinhua Road (新华路): Dingxi Rd to Panyu Rd; formerly Avenue Amherst.

Tilanqiao (the former Jewish refugee quarter)

62. Zhoushan Road (舟山路): Kunming Rd to Huoshan Rd.
63. Huoshan Road (霍山路): East Daming Rd to Lintong Rd; formerly Wayside Road.
64. Huimin Road (惠民路): Yangshupu Rd to Lintong Rd; formerly Baikal Road.

What the sources disagree on

When the 144 and the 64 were decided. The documents we have are dated August and September 2007, and the first official statement of “144, of which 64” we have found is from August 2008. But a Morning Post article says the 144 were drawn in 2005; The Paper’s list says June 2007; and a 2018 Jiefang Daily report says “thirteen years ago”, which also points to 2005. The likeliest reading is that the roads and their classes were fixed in the area protection plans of 2003–2005, and that the 2007 Opinions set the rules for managing them. We have not found the 2005 documents to confirm it.

What the 2007 document is called. Its title is the Opinions on the planning management of heritage-protection roads (lanes). In 2008 the Planning Bureau director called it the “measures for the planning management of heritage-protection roads in the central city”. The 2016 Wenhui report and the 2018 Jiefang report each give a slightly different title again, and the 2018 report attributes it to the wrong bureau.

Nine areas or twelve. The Paper’s list says the 64 are spread over nine historic areas. There are twelve central-city areas, and the list confirms the arithmetic: none of the 64 is in the Old City, Jiangwan or Longhua.

35 or 36 in the French Concession. The Surveying Institute’s grouping gives 35 “plane tree” roads and 14 “behind the bustle”; counting the Hengshan Road–Fuxing Road area from the list gives 36. The difference comes from how the paired entries (Middle and West Fuxing Road, Shanyin and Xiangde roads) are counted.

Old names. The Paper’s list gives a former Chinese name for most roads, but for three in a row it appears to shift them by one line. The Settlements Gazetteer’s table pairs Route Francis Garnier (贾尔业爱路) with Dongping Road and Route L. Dufour (巨福路) with South Urumqi Road; The Paper gives those two old names to South Urumqi Road and Gao’an Road. We follow the gazetteer and give no former name for Gao’an Road.

Nanjing Road’s section. The list gives the protected section of East and West Nanjing Road as “Huangpi North Road to Middle Zhejiang Road”. The pin on our map is placed on that stretch, at the People’s Square end.

What to look for

Measure a street with your stride. On Yuqing Road, Xingguo Road or Sinan Road, the road is 15.2 metres wide, the historic width the 2016 report said it still had. Count the paces across, then do the same on a main road nearby.

Look at the building line. On a class-one road, new buildings must sit tight against the road’s edge. Where you see a recent building flush with its older neighbours, with no forecourt, that is the rule at work.

Look at the garden walls. The ban on breaking through walls to open shops is why the walls along Wukang Road and Yongfu Road are walls, with gates, rather than shopfronts.

Look up at the trees. Characteristic street trees must be kept, and existing green space may not be reduced. On Huashan Road, note where the protected stretch ends at Changshu Road.

Walk one road from each group. For the “classic grid”, Yuanmingyuan Road on the Bund; for “behind the bustle”, Shanyin Road in Hongkou or Zhoushan Road at Tilanqiao; for the plane trees, Wukang Road from Huashan Road down to Wukang Mansion.